Good news and bad news on the Ghost Peppers...

[Retired Spook]

I think that with the second half of the new peppers I am going to make a pure hot sauce - ghost peppers, Bragg's apple cider vinegar, and salt... I'm going to toast the peppers first in a pan, so, if you guys never hear from me again, that'll be why

Wish me luck!

 

[gmc2003]

Looks good RS.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Retired Spook]

I ordered a 3M Respirator 6502QL link and and a pair of 3M P100 Respirator Cartridge/Filter 60926 link so I can toast hot peppers and not choke - I'm getting too old to play games

This will come in handy when I make my Chile De Arbol hot sauce because I like to toast those chiles too.

 

[chopsaw]

I ordered a 3M Respirator

I couldn't pass the test to wear one . To many times of not wearing one when I should have .

habanero peppers just seem like a harsh hot to me

I agree . It's like a stabbing heat to me . No flavor . Love Carolina Reapers . Nice fruity flavor in the right amount .
I'll have to find some Ghost peppers .

 

[Retired Spook]

I agree . It's like a stabbing heat to me . No flavor . Love Carolina Reapers . Nice fruity flavor in the right amount .
I'll have to find some Ghost peppers .

Exactly!

I almost thought I was a lone nut there for awhile!

 

[Hijack73]

Y'all and ya Satan peppers. Ouch!

Nice to see them make it right.

Chargebacks for me are a last resort. I've had to do a few, but if you make a habit of it, the CC company will note to file that you, well, make a habit of it.
I had to do 3-4 on Capital One in about a 6 month period a few years ago. Last one I had to do in that short period of time, my agent asked me about the previous ones and I had to send all of my email correspondence and screenshots of my phone call attempts on the one I last initiated. I didn't have to go nearly that far on the first couple.

 

[Retired Spook]

One of the GREAT things about the Nourished Essential Easy Fermenter kit is the vacuum pump!

Checked my ferment and the jar overflowed. Fortunately for me I set the jar in a stainless steel Winco pan and covered the jar with a small corrugated box to maintain a dark environment. Checked the pan this morning and there was liquid in the pan.

I guess I filled the jar a little more than I should have. Live and learn.

Cleaned the mess and gave the jar a little shake and lots of bubbles (CO2?) came up to the top and a pepper sneaked passed the glass weight, so I opened the jar, re-positioned the pepper and glass weight, replaced the lid and gave the jar 2-pumps with the vacuum pump.

Back in business.

PS - The aroma! Somewhat familiar but I cannot place it? Smells kinda good nevertheless.

PSS - Respirator arrived and now I can toast the remaining ghost peppers for a stove top hot sauce, and live to tell about it...

 

[Retired Spook]

Y'all and ya Satan peppers. Ouch!

Nice to see them make it right.

Chargebacks for me are a last resort. I've had to do a few, but if you make a habit of it, the CC company will note to file that you, well, make a habit of it.
I had to do 3-4 on Capital One in about a 6 month period a few years ago. Last one I had to do in that short period of time, my agent asked me about the previous ones and I had to send all of my email correspondence and screenshots of my phone call attempts on the one I last initiated. I didn't have to go nearly that far on the first couple.

For the small cost I would not waste the time - I'm too old for arguing. I would just never buy anything from them again and make sure that anyone that asks, knows of my experience.

 

[Retired Spook]

Donned my respirator and toasted the remainder of the ghost peppers - unfortunately there was some black inside a few peppers so I had to cut some away. Still, I hoped I would have enough for at least one bottle of hot sauce...

Toasted them up nice. The respirator worked great. How do I know? I removed it for a bit right after toasting and, put it right back on...

Let em cool and toasted some chunked garlic.

Then simmered the peppers and garlic in enough water to cover for 20-minutes and let it cool down. Once it was cool I could finally remove the respirator...

Tossed the makings in the food processor with 4-tablespoons of Bragg's apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and added spoons full of simmering water until I got the consistency I like.

Stuck the PH tester in and it registered 3.65. Good to go!

Bottled it up and got a nearly perfectly filled 5-ounce bottle of some incredible tasting, wonderfully aromatic, incredibly hot, ghost pepper hot sauce. The heat does not hit instantly and the first taste is that wonderful fruity ghost pepper taste, but when the heat comes on, it comes on.

Probably the best hot sauce I have ever tasted and/or made.

 

[Retired Spook]

The peppers that are fermenting appear to be fermenting nicely - water is nice and cloudy and the peppers and glass weight have settled down in the jar. So far, so good, I think...

 

[clifish]

Nice spooky, I just got my fermenting stuff yesterday, if it stops raining I will see what I can haul from the ghosts I have. I will need triple gloves when I de-seed them or taking out my contacts will be a bitch tonight.

 

[chopsaw]

Even with gloves I was burning my face after the fact when I was doing the reapers . Maybe multi layers is the answer . Seems like no amount of hand washing gets rid of it .
I did use some stainless steel soap with some jalapenos . That seemed to do the trick .

 

[clifish]

Even with gloves I was burning my face after the fact when I was doing the reapers . Maybe multi layers is the answer . Seems like no amount of hand washing gets rid of it .
I did use some stainless steel soap with some jalapenos . That seemed to do the trick .

stainless steel soap? I think I will hedge my bets and take my contacts out before I work with them.

 

[chopsaw]

stainless steel soap?

Yup . SS hunk shaped like a small bar of soap . Came with a knife I bought my Son . Mainly used to take smells off your hands after doing knife work .
I just leave it next to the sink .

 

[dr k]

Yup . SS hunk shaped like a small bar of soap . Came with a knife I bought my Son . Mainly used to take smells off your hands after doing knife work .
I just leave it next to the sink .
View attachment 677123

For garlic and onion smell on your hands? Lemons to. Stainless steel high carbon blades work to.

 

[chopsaw]

For garlic and onion smell on your hands?

It definitely works for that . I use it quite a bit really .

 

[Retired Spook]

Ghost peppers fermented 3-weeks turned em into hot sauce today. Seems like they would not get below PH5 so I made up the difference with Bragg's apple cider vinegar to PH3.6. Very hot but they lost some of their fruity flavor and aroma.

I much prefer a ghost pepper hot sauce made from fresh ghost peppers.

 

[Fueling Around]

A learning experience that I am also starting down the black hole.

Ghost peppers fermented 3-weeks turned em into hot sauce today. Seems like they would not get below PH5 so I made up the difference with Bragg's apple cider vinegar to PH3.6. Very hot but they lost some of their fruity flavor and aroma.

I much prefer a ghost pepper hot sauce made from fresh ghost peppers.

In one of these hot pepper threads, Jeff jcam222 said the hotter less fleshy peppers needed some fleshy bell peppers added to increase the natural sugars to feed the fermenting bugs.

Side note, I use apple cider vinegar very sparingly. I often don't like the added flavors.

 

[Retired Spook]

A learning experience that I am also starting down the black hole.

In one of these hot pepper threads, Jeff jcam222 said the hotter less fleshy peppers needed some fleshy bell peppers added to increase the natural sugars to feed the fermenting bugs.

Side note, I use apple cider vinegar very sparingly. I often don't like the added flavors.

The added bell peppers may help the ferment reach a lower PH but I much prefer fresh peppers vs. fermented. As I mentioned, the fruity flavor and aroma of the fresh ghost peppers, that is the reason I prefer ghost peppers, is totally absent in the fermented peppers.

I did not add any garlic or other ingredients to the hot sauce because I wanted to see how the ferment affected the flavor of the peppers without the interference of other ingredients - this hot sauce is just the fermented peppers, brine, and enough apple cider vinegar to bring the PH down. The apple cider vinegar did not over-power the hot sauce at all.

Fermenting may result in a longer shelf life without the need to add vinegar to reach a satisfactory PH, but I much prefer the flavor and aroma of fresh peppers, even with the added apple cider or white vinegar.

I guess I am just going to have to make Chile de Arbol hot sauce until next growing season. The upside is that I have a good supply of nicely dried ghost pepper seeds!

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Reading thru this whole post is getting me a little bit scared of what I am growing.

Orange habs on their own are beyond my ability to enjoy the heat. Mixed with lesser heat I can dig them. I now have a small bush with about 9 looking good and waiting for them to change color.

I just set up a garden tower with a bunch of peppers ( In So Cal so should be OK ). I did add a Red Ghost pepper in the mix. I might just give it water and avoid it like a plague. Ha ha just kidding or maybe not. I will have to see how it goes but after only a few days I have peppers and tomatoes starting to grow in this tower.